Planning Approval Rate in Hartlepool
Hartlepool is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 94.3% of applications and decides 99.6% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #37 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Hartlepool, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Hartlepool Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 229 decisions (216 granted, 13 refused).
How Hartlepool compares
| Hartlepool | 94.3% |
| North East average | 91.7% |
| England average | 87% |
Hartlepool is 7.3 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Hartlepool?
Hartlepool is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 94.3% of the applications it decides (rank 37th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 94.3% approved against an England average of 87%. Within North East it is the 4th most approving of 14 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 91.7%. Refusals are uncommon here: 13 of its 229 decisions were refusals (5.7%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 95.8% of major developments approved versus 93.2% of householder and other small-scale work, from 24 major decisions.
On timing it is among the faster authorities, deciding 99.6% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 229 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its North East neighbours it sits between South Tyneside (95.7%, more approving) and Stockton-on-Tees (94%, stricter). For context in North East, Redcar and Cleveland approves the most (96.7%) and Middlesbrough the least (77.2%).
Compare Hartlepool with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in North East. See the full North East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Hartlepool
Live planning activity in Hartlepool Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 3 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Hartlepool Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Hartlepool Borough Council
Recent applications in Hartlepool Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Hartlepool page.
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Planning permission in Hartlepool: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Hartlepool?
On the latest official figures Hartlepool is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 94.3% of the 229 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Hartlepool approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 94.3% approved and 5.7% refused — 216 granted and 13 refused of 229 decisions, with major schemes approved at 95.8% and householder and other work at 93.2%.
How quickly does Hartlepool decide planning applications?
On timing Hartlepool is among the faster authorities: 99.6% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Hartlepool stricter than nearby councils?
Hartlepool's 94.3% approval rate makes it the 4th most approving of 14 authorities in North East, against a 91.7% regional average. Neighbouring South Tyneside approves 95.7% and Stockton-on-Tees 94%.
Can I use Hartlepool's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Hartlepool decided, not a prediction for any individual application; your outcome depends on the site, the proposal, local planning policy and any objections.
Methodology & limits
Approval, refusal and in-time rates come from the government's official PS2 planning application statistics (Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government), covering 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. This dataset is England-only and published annually, so it lags live activity. Live figures are the applications PlanWatch has collected for Hartlepool Borough Council and are not a complete council register. Refusal reasons and delegated-vs-committee splits are not published in this data.
This is a historic average, not a prediction. It cannot tell you whether your application will be approved — that depends on your site, proposal, local policy and any objections.
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